The federal dynamics: the attitudes of citizens towards federalism in Belgium

Pascolo, Laura [UCL] Reuchamps, Min [UCL]

In multinational federations, federal dynamics seem to be guided by the congruence between the ethno-linguistic differences in society and institutions (Gagnon and Tully, 2001; Burgess and Pinder, 2007). As a result, institutions have been gradually modified over the course of various institutional arrangements to accommodate the diversities of these federations. However, citizens as the ‘raison d’être’ of federalism tend to have a rather passive role in the processes of federalization that shape these federal dynamics. This role is even more limited in consociational systems where citizens are perceived to be more radical than political elites in their political preferences and identities (Huyse, 1970; Lijphart, 1977). However, even if citizens are not the main designers of federalism, they are nonetheless the main receptors of policies. Hence, the study of their perceptions and attitudes towards federalism are crucial to identify the contours of issues and dynamics within multinational federations. Belgium is a particularly relevant case because the historically centrifugal federal dynamics of decentralization of competences is highly debated and a reversal of the federal dynamics could be at play (Pascolo and al., 2021). Indeed, recent studies have shown that the political elites are increasingly advocating the ‘re-centralisation’ of some competences in the name of efficiency (Dodeigne and al., 2016; Reuchamps and al., 2017). The question is therefore whether citizens follow and support this trend or not. Yet, there is little research on citizens’ preferences except for quantitative surveys of voters and their votes (Devillers and al., 2019; Deschouwer and al., 2010).